The present invention relates to a film cassette adapted to be inserted into and removed from a film cassette chamber in a photographic device such as in a microfilm camera.
It is well known to provide memory circuits in a film cassette so that when a cassette is placed in a camera, the memory circuits are readable by the circuitry in the camera. The camera can then ascertain the type of film contained within the cassette, the amount of unexposed film remaining in the cassette in either reel or in the number of remaining frames as well as other parameters and characteristics of the film contained therein. Exemplary of this development are the system described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,338,644; 4,500,183; and 4,443,077.
A disadvantage associated with such a system is the requirement that an electrical connection be established to allow information to move through the interface. For example, when a host device retrieves information stored in the memory circuits within the cassette, such an interface requires connectors usually in the form of pins and plugs which can create myrid problems such as loos or corroded contacts, bent or misaligned pins, etc.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a film cassette that has an optical receiver/transmitter (emitter/detector pair) in the wall of the cassette forming an optical coupling when properly aligned with a corresponding receiver/transmitter (emitter/detector pair) adjacent the cassette chamber in the host machine when the cassette is inserted in the machine in its operative position thereby establishing a two-way communication path between the cassette and the host photographic device.
While the preferred embodiment of this invention is directed to a film cassette for microfilm cameras, many of the features of the present invention are not limited to microfilm cassettes, or in fact, to cassettes containing film. The present inventive concepts are equally applicable to other applications or a different web material, such as magnetic tape or the like as supplied in a cartridge or magazine for use in a device.